Young children don't do details when it comes to organization, and they need to see their things because if it's out of sight, it's out of mind. -Cass Aarssen

Cas of Clutterbug describes her “young mom” self as a hot mess – house a disaster and feeling horrible that she couldn’t get organized.

She finally realized a few important pieces of her own personality and is now a Recovering Super Slob turned Organizing Expert who teaches others how to tap into their own unique organizing styles, which she says are part of a person from birth.

This fast-paced, super practical interview will help you understand:

  • The 2 questions everyone needs to ask themselves to figure out their organizing style
  • How spouses/families can co-exist in peaceful organization even when family members have different organizing styles
  • Why kids ALWAYS organize differently than (most) adults
  • And why it’s ok if you happen to be an adult who organizes like children (I am!!)
  • 3 key steps to getting kids’ stuff organized – and keeping it that way! (cue angels singing)
  • Why tossing a basketball across the room is a good analogy for helping kids (and “butterfly” organizing adults) keep their stuff in place
  • The real reason messes happen in your home
  • 3 fabulous ways to help others (kids, yes, but maybe spouse too!) declutter with joy
  • The most important organizational step you can take in your kitchen

Cas is a wizard at explaining how people work and how we can both get our homes in order AND pass on effective decluttering and organizing skills to our kids!

Be sure to take her organizing styles quiz at Clutterbug and follow her on YouTube and Instagram

Video or audio? For the first 5 years, this show “The Healthy Parenting Connector” was a video interview series. You can still watch the video, but NOW it’s also a podcast, renamed “Healthy Parenting Handbook.” Find all the episodes here or listen on your favorite podcast player:

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Can’t see the video? Watch Organization Styles for Families here on YouTube!

No time for the video? Here are the notes!

Organizing Styles for Families

  • 1:21: Today on the Healthy Parenting Handbook I’m talking with Cas Aarrsen aka “Clutterbug” about how families can learn to organize in a way that works for everyone, even the kids!
  • 3:19: Cas starts by sharing her story with us. You might be surprised to hear that she isn’t a naturally organized person, in fact, quite the opposite. Once Cas found an organizing system that worked (even for her!) she began helping friends and family members with their organization and it’s grown into her YouTube channel, a TV show (Hot Mess House), podcast, and more.

The Difference Between Macro vs Micro Organizers

  • 6:16: One of the big determining factors in Cas’s organization system is whether you have a macro or micro organizing style. Let’s dive into what that means. Here’s the blog post on macro organizing I mentioned that first connected Cas and myself.

Organization comes down to how you naturally sort and store your things. -Cass Aarssen

  • 6:46: Macro vs micro-organizing comes down to how you naturally sort your things. Are you very detailed, like to sort things into very specific categories, and willing to put things away “properly” in your detailed system? You’re a micro-organizer. If you like to sort into larger categories and have a hard time keeping up with every organizing system you try then you’re probably a macro organizer.
  • 8:36: One of our #LifeSkillsNow camp leaders, HR Mom, talks a lot about her kids with neurodivergence and ADHD and how the ADHD brain works. She shows a picture of a closed hamper with clothes piled around it and says “If the hamper was open, the clothes wouldn’t be on the floor.” It can be that simple!
  • 8:58: Macro organizers are not lazy, their brains just work differently from more detailed organizers. If you’re a macro organizer, you can set up systems and remove roadblocks and friction so that you’re able to stay on top of the system.

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Visual vs Hidden Organizers

  • 9:56: The other component of the clutterbug system is how you store items. Do you want everything out where you can see it hung on the wall or in clear bins? You’re a visual organizer. Do you want everything to be out of sight in drawers, closets, and baskets? You’re a hidden organizer.
  • 10:37: Most of my audience is living with other people in their family and you won’t generally all have the same organizing style. When you have different styles in the home it’s usually easier to default to the person who is a visual organizer and/or the macro organizer. Cas calls this style a butterfly.
  • 12:17: Your organizing tendencies are like a personality trait. It isn’t taught by parents to children, it isn’t based on gender or birth order. Most children start off as butterflies (macro, visual) and as they head into their teens they show their natural tendencies.
  • >13:54: It’s common for adults to think kids are just really messy and can’t keep things tidy, but maybe they just organize differently and need different strategies.

Organizing Style Compromise Among Family Members

  • 14:15: Self-awareness is the first key. Know what works for you, your spouse, and your kids. Then you can work at adapting the home to be a compromise. With kids especially, make sure their stuff is organized in the way they will do well with.
  • 15:00: Children can’t process a lot of inventory. Many playrooms are just overwhelming to them. If your kids are moving toys to a less cluttered area of the house to play, your playroom is too cluttered. 
  • 15:50: Don’t over sort with kids and don’t use huge containers. Micro-sorting looks like putting everything back in the little display case it came in, or dividing up the fruits, vegetables, and utensils in the toy kitchen. Using too big of a container looks like dumping everything in a toy box which the kids will immediately dump out so they can find something.
  • 17:02: Use picture labels so kids know where to clean things up.
  • 19:31: We’ve talked about butterflies that are macro/visual organizers, here are the rest of the clutterbugs. Bees are micro/visual organizers. Ladybugs are macro/hidden organizers. Crickets are micro/hidden organizers.
  • 21:32: What do you do when you have a hidden organizer married to a piles person who needs to see everything or it’s out of sight, out of mind? Instead of piling on the counter or floor, use a tray or shallow bin so that there’s a boundary to contain the pile and they’re visually contained, but yet they’re still out in the open for the visual organizer. Take advantage of vertical space with visual organizers.

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Helping Kids Learn to Declutter

  • 23:56: On #LifeSkillsNow we had a session about saying goodbye to your toys and we had feedback from parents saying it was really tough on their kids. How can we work with our kids to help them declutter?
  • 24:23: The first method to help someone declutter is the yes/no method. You let the other person sit, maybe have a snack and all they have to do is say “Yes, I love it” or “No, we can share that with someone else” about each item you hold up. If you aren’t making any progress with this method move on to method #2.
  • 25:52: The second method is the keep method. You go through your kid’s stuff and find things you’re pretty sure your child has outgrown, put them in a box, and then invite your child to go through the share box. Tell them you want to respect their stuff and you don’t want to share anything they really love. They get to choose what stays and the rest goes. 
  • 26:35: The next method to try is the pack-up method. With this method, you pack up the stuff like in the last method and put it in another room. When the child asks for a specific item that’s in the box, you go get it back out, and whatever is left after 6 months gets donated. Don’t start with this method because it isn’t teaching your kids that decluttering is a positive experience.
  • 27:40: Is there anything else that parents should know if they’ve got a kid or themselves with ADHD? Most people with ADHD are macro organizers, their brains are moving on to the next thing so fast they need quick and easy organization solutions.

Mixed categories create a mess. It's the fact that we have to dump things out or dig to to find one thing because it's all mixed with other things. -Cass Aarssen

Resources We Mention for Organization Styles

Cass AarssenAfter years of struggling with clutter and organization, Cas realized something that would change her life forever; she doesn’t organize in the traditional way. She discovered that there are, in fact, four different organizing styles. Once she knew her style, she was finally able to design a system that worked for her and stayed organized for good.

She’s now on a mission to spread the Clutterbug® Organizing Philosophy and help other families who struggle with disorganization and clutter.

You may have seen her host Hot Mess House on HGTV. She also offer free education and ideas through her YouTube videos, Podcasts, and amazing online Facebook support group. She’s been able to help millions of families transform their lives through organization and now it’s your turn!